The Istanbul Europa Race, in the prestigious IMOCA class, is the latest great sailing race in the yachting calendar. Its long course through Europe is to make it a major sporting event from its very first edition. In the great tradition of stage races, the Istanbul Europa Race will bring together a fleet comprised of some of very best sailors of our time, taking them on an ideal course and offering a genuine invitation to travel.
An exceptional event
A human, competitive and cultural adventure, the Istanbul Europa Race has a wealth of assets to bring to the table. A public, comprising amateur sailors and enthusiasts alike, is bound to come out in force to view the spectacle, to witness this new encounter between man and the natural elements, at the forefront of which are the waters of the Mediterranean, as well as the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. The excellent line-up of sailors offered, the original aspect of the race ports and the course together with the public presence, all go to ensure massive, international media coverage, given the infatuation that is prompted by sailing.
The Istanbul Europa Race is a unique international project, managed by the Olay Nautic company. Well known around the sailing world and appreciated for its skills as an organiser, Olay Nautic already manages the Cap Istanbul.
The class IMOCA
The Istanbul Europa Race will be contended in the IMOCA class, an association of open 60 foot monohulls (Open 60' class).
The International Monohull Open Class Association was founded in 1991; it is a member of ISAF (International Sailing Federation) in the offshore racing yacht class and groups together the greatest races, including the Vendée Globe, the Barcelona World Race, the Route du Rhum as well as the Transat Jacques Vabre.
In general the boats carry excessive sail area, they are light and most commonly made of carbon. Able to reach speeds in excess of 30 knots, the monohulls run before the wind, with a hi-tech structure guaranteeing them both speed and endurance, even in the most extreme conditions the sea can throw at them.
An invitation to travel
The fleet will set off from the "gateway to Europe”, the Eurasian Istanbul; a town straddling the sea, a bridge between two continents, and future European Capital of Culture.
The initial stage in the Mediterranean journey will lead the fleet to Nice; the pearl of the Côte d'Azur.
At the end of a short but magical stage, taking the sailors via the le de Beauté, Barcelona will play host to the competitors. The dynamic Catalan capital is one of the most attractive and most welcoming towns, renowned around the sailing world.
Finally, the unmissable Brest in France will have the honour of playing host to the fleet, where its splendid site will witness the ‘grande finale' and the crowning of the champion, after over four weeks of battling and challenges.
The fleet of top sailors
For its first edition, the Istanbul Europa Race will have the pleasure of presenting a fleet of around fifteen boats, helmed by the top sailors of our time. The trust the sailors display in the organising company, together with the scale of the event and the course on offer, greatly appeal to sailing professionals.
In terms of image, the skippers are perceived as adventurers, sacrificing everything for their passion and a far cry from overpaid stars. In addition they practise a sport which, though given a lot of media coverage, is sheltered from the numerous excesses you can observe in other sports (structured finance, doping), and benefits from a ‘clean' image in every sense of the word.
As such these top level offshore racers have expressed a desire to accept the invitation to what is to be an unmissable race in their professional career. Among them we can already mention:
- 1876
- DCNS
- FONCIA
- GROUPE BEL
- PAPREC-VIBRAC
- VEOLIA
The values of sailing
In the great tradition of sea-going adventures, the Istanbul Europa Race keeps the noble values of sailing alive. A clean, sound sport, sailing has a number of assets to bring to the table. Its environment, the water, is the symbolic value of strength and energy. The way it is rooted in tradition (an ancestral means of transport using water and wind) combines with the latest technologies (boat structure, means of communication at sea in extreme conditions).
The image of sailing is all the more positive since it's an ecological activity which is spared of doping issues.
Beyond making a splash on a competitivelevel, sailing constitutes an excellent medium for communication thanks to the strong, sound values it conveys. Large and not so large companies appreciate this sport, especially in light of the similarities which exist between the business world and the universe of maritime competition: at the forefront are risk taking, team spirit, performance, a sense of anticipation, control in crisis situations and tenacity in the face of adversity.
By associating your business with the nobility of this competitive sport, you will have a unique tool at your disposal to increase the value of your image amongst the general public, reunite your internal teams and give your client relations a boost.
Extensive media coverage
The excellence of both the fleet and the course in the Istanbul Europa Race, which subtly blends a cultural melting pot and the prestige and influence of the race ports, encourages international media coverage.
An ambitious media campaign has thus been put in place, with genuine added value: media support thanks to the development of new technologies for collecting and managing information.
Year round the global communications strategy with the media will be enhanced and governed by a press relations team in each country, and relayed by a team in charge of international press relations.
Television
The production means put in place are considerable, enabling production from shore, sea (media boat) and air (helicopters) Numerous hours of live production and pre-recorded footage are scheduled (series of 15 minute reports, portraits of the race ports, daily roundup, etc).
As regards broadcasting, there are already a number of partnerships with daily programming:
Eurosport International, France Télévision, Planète Thalasssa, Orange TV, NTV, TRT, etc.
The general broadcasting aims are in excess of 50 hours
Radio
The race monitoring is provided by a media boat, which will pick up the radio sessions. These daily radio sessions will be broadcast to the national and regional media from each country.
Written Press
At the point where a press conference presentation about the event (March 2009) is set to take place, a press pack will be sent out beforehand, containing all the key information about the race and its partners. Prior to the race, a series of press releases will be sent out detailing event news (new competitors, media partners, etc.) During the race, a daily press release will be sent via press file to media from over twenty countries. These press releases will be available in French, English, Spanish and Turkish. These press releases will be accompanied by photos taken from shore, from the media boat and from the helicopter, throughout the duration of the event. The objective for general distribution in the written press is over 1,500 articles.
Internet
The official race site will broadcast the whole event live, with a cartography enabling each boat to be located in elapsed time. This site, translated into four languages (French, English, Spanish and Turkish), will ensure the availability of all multimedia contents: press releases, videos, interviews and photos may be downloaded free of rights for the media. Partnerships with numerous internet sites are currently being investigated. Finally, the Virtual skipper is a virtual race in elapsed time which will enable partner visibility to be stepped up. Thousands of players right around the world will enter the competition with the virtual Istanbul Europa Race game. Using the medium of Imoca 60s, the virtual game will give players the opportunity to do a tour of Europe in the actual weather conditions of the time.
Public Display
A poster campaign in the race ports (Nice, Barcelona) as well as the start town (Istanbul) and the finish town (Brest) is planned. Around 5,000 posters will be displayed in order to popularize the event and deck out the towns in the colours of the Istanbul Europa.
A host of events for intense alternative media communication
Beyond the large scale media coverage which will be exhibited during the Istanbul Europa Race and whose partners will be the primary beneficiaries, there are a number of opportunities as regards alternative media communication.
The race villages constitute the nerve centre of the Istanbul Europa Race. A meeting point at the very core of communication, the village accommodates the press conferences each day. Dedicated to our partners, the village displays their colours and a luxury area is devoted to them, so as they are able to invite clients, suppliers and directors.
The various race ports in the Istanbul Europa Race are also great opportunities to host gala evenings. Ceremonial dinners are to be organised at each of the race ports. For such occasions, the towns will place some prestigious areas at the disposal of the organisation and its partners. These dinners are to bring together over 500 people. The closing dinner in Brest will provide an opportunity to award the prizes to the various champions, and will play host to over 500 people for the occasion.
Finally, once the race is on, the village will take to the seas. Throughout the entire event, a VIP boat will follow the start of the stage (Istanbul, Nice, Barcelona and Brest), as well as the entire prologue and the postlogue. This boat is to play host to our partners, their guests and journalists.
Such exceptional moments offer many opportunities to enhance our partners' image and fully involve them in the exceptional event that the Istanbul Europa Race represents.
